Sorry in advance, there are many thoughts going round my head, and they may come out in bits and pieces!_________________I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it (or even read all of it). These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 11:03 am

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DarthSanithKnight

Joined: 26 Jul 2010Posts: 198

Life Is The Path wrote:

OH!

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And I knew they'd still be crazy! Sorry, just had to add that!
And for the first time since the Tribe was introduced I realised that the Jedi are outnumbered. I know they've never had numbers on their side, but they are seriously outnumbered by the Sith. That's got me worried.

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yea your right about the sith thing, and yea i should have expected that they were still crazy.

_________________"laugh it up fuzzball"- Han Solo

Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:31 pm

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CerrineaMaster

Joined: 09 Jun 2009Posts: 1491

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The Sith may be in numbers, but these guys have been out of touch for so long, they think they're way stonger than they actually are. And the GA does have a big military which would outnumber the Lost Tribe. As for Valin and Jysella still being barvy: I wouldn't be surprised if the authors pull a fast one on us and then next sentence we didn't read is about them coming to their senses. The authors have set us up like this before.

As for as Allana goes I think it's Barv knowing her secret that's the real danger here -- especially if the Barvy Jedi go barvy again. Which is really going to annoy me if that happens.

I'm dying to find out how Daala gets dumped as COS. I've been waiting for this, and I think Saba is exactly what the Jedi Order needs at this point in Luke's absence. Saba's practically a battle master and absolutely a warrior. Plus she's got that hunter instinct going. Plus Leia already helped Saba a lot in regards to Kenth. I really like Leia and Saba as a Jedi team.

The Sith may be in numbers, but these guys have been out of touch for so long, they think they're way stonger than they actually are. And the GA does have a big military which would outnumber the Lost Tribe. As for Valin and Jysella still being barvy: I wouldn't be surprised if the authors pull a fast one on us and then next sentence we didn't read is about them coming to their senses. The authors have set us up like this before.

As for as Allana goes I think it's Barv knowing her secret that's the real danger here -- especially if the Barvy Jedi go barvy again. Which is really going to annoy me if that happens.

I'm dying to find out how Daala gets dumped as COS. I've been waiting for this, and I think Saba is exactly what the Jedi Order needs at this point in Luke's absence. Saba's practically a battle master and absolutely a warrior. Plus she's got that hunter instinct going. Plus Leia already helped Saba a lot in regards to Kenth. I really like Leia and Saba as a Jedi team.

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While the GA certainly have a much larger military, I'm pretty sure they're still not in the loop about the Sith, and as such the Sith will have surprise on their side. However, Jag does know of the threat and will presumably have time to set up a defense, and that may mean the Jedi could hide in Imperial space for a while.

I don't know what instance you're referring to when you say 'the author have set us up like this before'. Could you remind me, please?
However, I do think this is for the long run this time. I'd also like to point out the Ramoan's behavior at the end of the book. Is he always that forgetful, or could it be he's going insane, too?

Oh, and I'm definitely with you about Daala and Saba!

_________________I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it (or even read all of it). These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:21 am

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Darth SkuldrenModerator

Joined: 04 Feb 2008Posts: 6844Location: Missouri

I feel I must defend the Sith. Now the Tribe Sith we have seen so far are rather arrogant and over confident, however, I do not think that is grounds to dismiss them. Sure, we know their Sith Lords can't go toe-to-toe with Luke and hope to survive, but that doesn't mean a Sith Lord can't take out a GA flagship with some awesome dark side powers. Mara was pretty good in her piece of junk Z-95 Headhunter she drug around everywhere. I'm betting the Tribe can pull off similar feats with their pirate fleet against the GA.

Now facing the Jedi is another matter. Thus far their record against the Jedi is pretty abysmal. I'd like to see that change. My biggest hope is the Tribe's Grand Lord Darish Vol. I'm hoping he makes a big entrance, one that will show just how deadly the Sith can be and that the readers should not underestimate them._________________
"I believe toys resonate with us as humans, we can hold them them, it's tactile, real! They are totems for our extended beliefs and imaginations. A fetish for ideas that hold as much interest and passion as old religious relics for some. We display them in our homes. They show who we are. They are signals for similar thinking people. A way we connect with each other...and I guess thats why I do toys. That connection." -Ashley Wood

Oh, I'm not underestimating them. *Points accusingly to other members*

And, while listening to EUCast I had an idea. IR2 is talking about K'Khruk and joining the Jedi Order some time after NJO...

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K'Khruk joins the Order and becomes the temporary Jedi Grand Master!

_________________I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it (or even read all of it). These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

Oh, I'm not underestimating them. *Points accusingly to other members*

And, while listening to EUCast I had an idea. IR2 is talking about K'Khruk and joining the Jedi Order some time after NJO...

Click here to see the hidden message (It might contain spoilers)

K'Khruk joins the Order and becomes the temporary Jedi Grand Master!

I fully endorse it!

Let's try it at once!_________________-Bring on your thousands, one at a time or all in a rush. I don't give a damn. None shall pass.
-
-To become a Jedi, it is not the Force one must learn to control but oneself.
-
-Podcasts: Star Wars Beyond the Films, The Star Wars Report, & EUCast

I thought it was an excellent book and it's my favorite FotJ book since Outcast. I know a lot of people liked Allies, but I found Vortex much more compelling. Ok, here we go.

Plot: Looking at it from an unbiased standpoint, it did have a lot in common with Allies. Luke and Ben team up with the Sith to find Abeloth who ends up taking the form of one of Luke's ex-girlfriends. That's pretty weak to repeat themselves like that, but I found the book to be so well written that I didn't even notice it until a couple of days after I finished it. I found it to be compelling all the way though. And I don't actually mind the slaying of all the Bantam love interests. I have always wished that they'd die in a fire, so I'm quite pleased.

Luke and Ben: They are my official favorite characters of the series. They've finally figured out how to mature Luke without making him boring or all-powerful àla the Bantam days. I also think Ben is coming into his own as a character. I still don't love him that way I loved, say, Anakin Solo, but I can see him becoming a character I can love that way. Also, he had my favorite line of the book. "Don't worry, it's only a flesh wound. All right, a lot of flesh wounds," Loved it.

Vestara: I have never been and still am not a fan of Ben/Vestara. I'd prefer them to go another direction. But this doesn't mean that I don't like Vestara as a character or that I can't admit that they're playing out the relationship well. If they must do it, this is the right way.

Jaina and Jag: I am so relieved that they're relationship was sorta kinda resolved with a minimum of drama. I am not pleased with the complete shafting that Jaina has received lately. Do the authors not know what to do with her or something?

Han and Leia: To me, this was the best they've been written in quite some time. That is all.

Jedi Council/Kenth Hamner. Poor Kenth, At least by dying he actually contributed something to the plot. His death wasn't meaningless like other recent ones have been. *coughMaracoughIsoldercoughJacencough* I do have to say, though, that as needed as I think his death was, I was properly horrified that it's come to the Masters fighting to the death inside the Jedi Temple itself. Tsk tsk, everyone, how did it come to this kind of violence? And I don't even mind violence Ah well. Hopefully it will at least be the end of the Council bickering like younglings.

Allana and the Barabels: What. The. Heck?! This was the only part of the book I really didn't like. It was contrived and.....weird.

I think that's all I'll say for now. Still pondering a few other things.

I've been a bit disappointed by the direction the series has taken with the second trilogy. Vortex kind of hammered it home for me, but in the first three books, the seeming undercurrent to the storyline was the Celestials, with the Kessel bit in Outcast, the Aing-Tii prophecy concerning Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil returning, Sinkhole Station and Centerpoint Station, the Keshiri Destructors, etc.

These bits were seemingly abandoned in the second trilogy, and replaced by the slave uprising subplot and conspiracy against Daala that will presumably return in Conviction. I don't know about everyone else, but I thought the ancient mystery aspect was the most intriguing part of FOTJ... we didn't learn much about Abeloth in Vortex, at least as much as I thought we would.

I'm especially hoping that the Kessel subplot to Outcast, which was about a third of that book, doesn't turn out to be another case of Jacen's tassels. But I fear it will be...

Other than that, I found the book to be pretty good. I read parts of it and listened to parts on the audiobook, and I found the part with Madhi Vaandt on Blaudu Sextus to be particularly moving in the audiobook.

When is Avinoam Arelis going to get his due? Clearly he's the best young prospect in the Jedi order.

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:17 am

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DarthSanithKnight

Joined: 26 Jul 2010Posts: 198

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Quote:

Allana and the Barabels: What. The. Heck?! This was the only part of the book I really didn't like. It was contrived and.....weird.